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Monday, 22 December 2014

Movie Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1

IMDb Summary:

When Katniss destroys the games, she goes to District
13 after District 12 is destroyed. She meets President Coin who convinces her
to be the symbol of rebellion, while trying to save Peeta from the Capitol.

Review:

I wanted to start off by saying that I didn’t like the book
Mockingjay. Don’t get me wrong, this series is one of my all-time favourites,
but the last book let it down and I’m not the only one to think that either. So
with that out of the way onto the movie…

It was fantastic. It completely blew my mind and was above
and beyond my expectations, even when I loved Catching Fire so much. That was
another of my worries, that it wouldn’t live up to the previous movie in the
franchise but it did!

There was so much more action, but more prominently there
was a lot of raw emotion. This movie is dark. It’s portraying a war, where thousands
die, and people go crazy. Oh my god, it was so well done that my heart broke
time and time again.

As always the acting was on point, particularly Jennifer
Lawrence, and I also noticed the transgression of how she was made to look
younger throughout the movie, so it really hit hard that Katniss is still only 16 years old. I also have to mention her
singing, because we were made to believe she couldn’t sing (especially since in
one of her other movies “House at the End of the Street” she only lip sings and
it’s not even her pre-recorded voice) but she
can. I couldn’t get The Hanging Tree out of my head for days…

All the other characters were so great; I loved Effie’s
humour and fashion advice on President Coin which actually made me crack up. I
still left the theatre feeling god damn awful but that was the director’s
intent and I couldn’t be happier about it (sounds weird I know).

Boggs and Finnick in my eyes should have had more screen
time, because they played much bigger roles than let on. Especially Finnick’s heart-breaking
story which could and should have been so powerful, but was slightly overlooked
by the action scene taking place at the same time.

What really made me cry, and cry rivers, was Peeta. Even
now, a month later, the thought of his deteriorated state makes me want to break
down and rock in a corner. Every scene he was in had me holding my breath, and
everyone in the theatre did the same. Josh Hutcherson did an amazing job at
conveying the unimaginable pain and delivering it so beautifully.

A great film, which blew away my expectations and left me
hanging.

Favourite Quote:

Katniss Everdeen: “Fire
Is Catching… If we burn, you burn with us!”

President Snow: “Miss
Everdeen, it is the things we love most that destroy us.”

Disclaimer

I can guarantee that all of my reviews are honest, which includes the reviews I have written based on review copies I have received which are clearly specified. The fact that they are review copies has no impact on my thoughts and opinions stated in the review. I do not receive any form of monetary compensation for my reviews from authors/publishers.